Are You a Framework Girl?

TaDa! Here is one of the other projects I have been working on these past few weeks. A new online magazine launched May 1st with my illustrations in one of the articles. Framework Magazine, founded by Bria Lear, is a lifestyle publication dedicated to sharing the essentials of stylish living. Framework is the modern girl’s digital guide to personal style for everyday living.


My illustrations are featured in an article titled "Weddiquette" on pages 52 - 61. Go check it out. It's was rather timely for me to be illustrating an article about wedding etiquette.  I'm so happy with how the shoes and the wedding bands turned out, I should create paintings of my own rings and shoes to have as keepsakes of the day.

Take a look at Framework Magazine and let me know what you think. There are some interesting articles and I think it's very well written. I am happy to be attached to this new project.

How to Organize Everything

Last week I shared with you my organizing tip that was included in the Winter 2010/2011 issue of The Nest magazine. Julia from The Knot, Inc. was kind enough to send me the entire feature to share with you which is great because my new scanner and I are not getting along right now.

(visit post on Design Evolution to view embedded article)

You can find me on the bottom of page 4 but be sure to read the entire article because it is full of great advice from some of my favorite bloggers.

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Well Look What We Have Here

(click on the photo to see a larger version)

That's me quoted in The Nest magazine expressing my love for clear plastic shoe boxes from the Container Store. And I'm not kidding, I really love them. My closet was a disaster before I invested in about 20 of them. The shoe boxes are $1.79 a piece and only $1.49 a piece if you order a case of 20 (men's shoe boxes are larger and more expensive). I also picked a few extra and use them to organize my linen closet. They are so expensive yet sturdy & stackable that you really can't beat them. Even though you can generally see which shoe is inside which box I might go crazy one day and photograph all of my shoes to label each box. If I ever get to that project I'll be sure to give you a glimpse of the results.

Aside from my name being printed in the magazine there are actually a lot of great reasons to pick up this issue. My organizing tip is listed along side 20+ other great bloggers like Simply Grove & Create Girl. Also, the EmersonMade spread is much more beautiful in person than online and there is a really cute spread with Jayma Mays and her husband.

Even though it was just one small line (with an exclamation point I did not add ) I was giddy to flip open a magazine and see my name in print. I could definitely get used to that.

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EmersonMade in The Nest Magazine

I bet it's a shock to no one who is familiar with the clothing and accessories brand EmersonMade that the home of the couple who runs the company is as charming as their handmade fabric flowers. Emerson and Ryan's new Hampshire home was recently styled by Paul Lowe and photographed by David A. Land for The Nest magazine.

I haven't seen the feature in person yet but what I can gather from this preview is that it's about how the couple lives surround with open storage but some how makes it look organized instead of cluttered. That's a decorating issue I know many struggle with so this edition of The Nest will definitely be worth picking up.


Ryan and Emerson's home is so cozy, and warm, and welcoming and so many other superlatives. Also, I am extremely envious of that pantry.

See more shots from The Nest feature on Sweet Paul's blog or pick up a copy of the Winter 2011 edition of The Nest. While we are on the subject of EmersonMade, they just released a sneak peek of the new Spring collection and once again I want every item.

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Anthology Magazine - Print is Not Dead

I can barely contain my excitement over a new quarterly shelter and lifestyle print magazine. Did you hear that? I said print shelter magazine. It feels like slowly the shelter magazine world is coming back to life and it is exciting. While there has been an explosion of fantastic online magazine within the past year there are moments when I really miss curling up with a great magazine that I can hold in my hands and flip through the pages. So many of those moments are perfectly captured in this video produced by Anthology Magazine - Print is Not Dead.

The Founders of Anthology Magazine, Anh-Minh Le and Meg Mateo Ilasco, envision the magazine as a collection of stories about home décor, travel, design, entertaining, and culture shared with readers. The Anthology website provides a sneak peek into the premiere issue and I love what I'm seeing so far. In fact, I love it so much I ordered myself a copy and I can't wait for it to arrive.

Anthology also has a blog that is updated daily for a dose of inspiration and peak of behind the scenes magazine production.

Marie Claire Maison: Colour

I have a book review for you today. I should let you know right off the bat that I was not approached to write this review, I bought this book with my own dough because I thought it looked interesting. Let's get into it, shall we?

Marie Claire Maison: Colour
Bridget Bodoano
ISBN-10: 1844005046
Hardcover, 160 pages


I was doing some fantasy European shelter magazine subscription shopping on Amazon one afternoon when I stumbled across this book. I say fantasy shopping because getting European magazine subscriptions delivered in the US is often pretty expensive. Marie Claire Maison - France is one of my favorite magazine and I love clicking through the galleries on their website. While searching for the magazine I found the hardcover coffee table book, Marie Claire Maison: Colour. The focus of the book is to provide practical advice on how to use color to enhance any decorating scheme. Discussions about how to utilize color are punctuated with beautiful photos from previous issues of Marie Claire Maison.

The first chapter talks about the origins of raw pigments, how and why certain colours complement one another and the effect of colour on space. Other chapters discuss how to successfully use strong shades, historical colours, muted pastels and watercolour tints.

I enjoyed the discussion about the psychology of color but I was really pleased to see that author stress that you do not need to study color in depth to find what colors suit you. The most important thing to remember is that you should trust your instincts and not be afraid to act on your initial response to a color.

If you are a complete novice and working with color terrifies you this book will be really helpful. There is a lot of background information provided including the definitions of important color terms like Hue, Tint, Tone, etc.

And the best part, of course, is being able to flip through the book and drool over the fabulous Marie Claire Maison eye candy. I bought this book used (in like-new condition) which I often do and paid about $9 so I would definitely say it was worth it. I probably would not pay more than about $15 for a used copy of this book. The book was published in the U.K. so finding a new copy may be difficult and expensive.

Hope you enjoyed this review and let me know if you would like to see more of them in the future.

Valerie Pasquiou, Interior Designer & Stylist

Before I get into talking about the girl crush I have developed on Valerie Pasquiou, I'd like to take a moment to tell you how much I am enjoying Loft Life magazine. It's the first shelter magazine I've come across in awhile that I actually want to READ front to back. I know a magazine about loft life attracts a specific audience so if you are not generally interested in urban loft style living you may not think to pick it up. I'd like to encourage you to check it out anyway. The writing is fantastic and stories are really interesting, take this months look into Wilco's Chicago studio recording space. It's a much more than a "look at pictures of pretty and extremely expensive homes" magazine. The website is great too. They often expand upon stories in the magazine with more photos online and have some decent blog contributers.



Now for the real subject of today's post - Valerie Pasquiou. I was instantly drawn to the photos of her home (thank you tumblr) before I even knew who they belonged to. Once I read the interview with her I was instantly smitten. Valerie shares so many of the same theories what it takes to be an interior designer as I do. She talks about how important the chemistry behind a designer and their client is, how you must be extremely attentive and a good listener, and how overly polished homes lack character and personality.

My favorite part of the interview was where she discussed her distaste for homes with a "showroom look". Valerie believes the two most important factors in interior design are staying true to the personality of the client and a willingness to keep pieces they are attached to. You have to tell the story of the person who lives there and this is what will gives the space personality. I recommend that you check out the entire interview. It can be found the Loft Life website here.

Photo Credit: Tom Ackerman for Loft Life

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Small Space Solutions Courtesy of a Chic French Flat

I love wasting the afternoon going through the small space galleries on the Marie Claire Mason site because (a) Europeans really know how to do functional, stylish, and we organized small homes and (b) in French they're called petits espaces which makes them sound so fabulous.

I wanted to share this charming 26 square meter (about 280 square feet) apartment because it has so many great space saving tricks anyone can emulate.  First up is the stylish coffee table that is adjustable in height so it can also be used as a small dining table.

At first glance I though the fridge an microwave was so fabulous combo appliance that they don't sell in the United States, well okay they only exist in dorm rooms and look like this.  With my wonderful translating skills (ahem, google translate) I discovered it is actually a custom cabinet built to house both of the appliances.  The cabinet provides a nice separation between the living space and the kitchen and helps them to look less like appliances and more like a piece of furniture.

I think the most genius idea in this apartment is the extra storage space that is built on to the inside of the closet door.  What a great way to build a ton more storage into a pretty small closet.  Definitely mark this as a "Steal This Idea".


Related Posts:

Small Space, Big Style

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Steal This Idea...

...Create a contemporary doll house from wooden storage boxes, shadowbox frames, or display shelves and leftover scrapes of fabric or wallpaper. I stumbled across this idea in the September issue of Elle Decoration UK (my new favorite magazine by the way).




The wooden boxes pictured are from Heal's. You can find similar display boxes at Michael's, Ikea or Target.

Releated Posts:

Weekend Project

Weekend Accomplishments - Round Two

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Lonny Magazine

Back in early July I let you in on the news that Michelle Adams and photographer Patrick Cline, both former editors of Domino Magazine, have teamed up to produce an online decorating and lifestyle magazine. The first issue of Lonny Magazine will be available this month so I popped in on the site to get a sneak peak.

There is a lovely mission statement from the editors that has me excited to see what the team puts together:

In the time when shelter publications are turning their last pages...

Our Mission is to reopen the doors to accessible design. By embracing an online platform we provide inspiration at the click of a finger, directly connecting our readers to their favorite products and resources. Our freedom from page limits means that we can share more content in each issue, delivering an intimate look into the way people really live. At Lonny, we value independent thinking and believe not in following trends but rather in making choices that lead to happiness. We believe that good design and affordable design can coexist and that true inspiration can be found in the teeniest of homes or in the grandest of spaces.

I couldn't agree with that last sentence more.

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New, News, News...

The Domino Magazine Files

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News, News, News...

Designer Michelle Adams and photographer Patrick Cline, both former editors of Domino Magazine, have teamed up to produce an online decorating and lifestyle magazine.

Here's the news from Michelle:

Over the past six months as we've all watched our favorite shelter and lifestyle publications come to an end, it has left design lovers worldwide longing for inspiration and wondering what's next for the world of magazines. So Patrick and I decided to do something about it. As a special treat for you, we've rounded up some of your favorite (and boy do I mean favorite!) editors, designers, artists, bloggers and friends, and in September, 2009 we will be launching our premiere issue of an online decorating and lifestyle magazine called Lonny. Please be sure to spread the word, and check back in the coming weeks as we share with you our first ever cover shoot, and more details about the mag ;)

I'm definitely looking forward to checking it out. How about you?

Let's Play a Game Shall We?

Take a long hard look at this photo and tell me what you think is wrong with it.

That rug is driving me crazy!! This is an advertisement for, among other things in that photo, the rug. I cropped the name of the company out of the advertisement because they've already suffered enough embarrassment. How hard would it have been to set this display and not have the rug be a wrinkled mess? In case you think I'm over reacting, I may have cut some of rug out of the photo when I did the cropping. Trust me it is all a mess. It is difficult to understand why a company would pay so much money to have an ad in a popular magazine and not make sure every last detail was perfect. Okay that's enough crazy ranting for one day. We will now return to our regularly scheduled programing.

Interior Trends: Gilded Accents

I was pleasantly surprised by the gilded accents that showed up in several homes in the July/August '09 issue of Elle Decor. This is coming from a person who would normally recoil at the thought of a brass light fixture, shiny gold knob, or worse gold bathroom accessory. In a time where brushed nickel and chrome fixtures have become the norm it's an unexpected touch to see the antique brass handles, hinges, and light fixtures in the Hampton's home of Aerin Lauder. The honed finish of the antique brass is warm and refined and shares no similarity to its horribly shiny 1980's cousin.

I'm not sure if it's a look I could pull off in my own home. However, this wall of gold leaf frames in the bedroom of Monelle Totan feels like just the right touch of fabulous. Did you hear that Donald? This is a reasonable amount of gold for a home.

Pick yourself up a copy of the July/August '09 Elle Decor and check out the rest of Monelle's San Francisco home. She is the vice president of design for William-Sonoma Home and it shows. Her home is wonderfully restrained with graphic punches in the artwork and floor coverings.

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The Domino Magazine Files

Remember these lovely images from the Domino days of yore:

Are you pining for the slideshows that once existed on domino.com? Did you have an image from Domino that you just loved but never remembered to save it to your computer and now you would like to include in a blog post? To you just like to waste hours (like I do) flipping through photos of beautiful rooms?

Well, you're in luck. The lovely Cassandra Lavalle from the blog Coco&Kelley has created a flickr group named The Domino Magazine Files where anyone can contribute the Domino Magazine images they do have for everyone to share. Here's the group introduction from Cassandra:

With the Domino Magazine website officially gone, all we're left with are the images saved from the good 'ol days. I never had a chance to get all of my favorites off the website before it closed, so I'm creating this group in hopes of collecting as many as possible in one place!

Please only add photos that were published in the magazine or from the site. If they are from the My Deco files, please note that. Also, try not to duplicate photos that are already here.

There are already over 800 images added to the group pool. If you be great if everyone could continue to contribute the Domino images they have saved. When you add an image to the group it would also be a huge help if you include which issue it was from and any other information you have about the photograph.

Have fun perusing and lets keep this community going!

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Explore Tessera - Treasures from Turkey and Beyond

This shot of amazing tableware from Turkey featured in the May '09 issue of Elle Decor caught my eye and sent me straight to the website for Tessera, the shop who sells it.

What I discovered there was site full of one of kind, antique, and handmade products from around the world. I have expressed my love for all things Suzani here before so you can imagine my jaw hitting the floor when I got a glimpse of these vintage Suzani throws:


I actually learned something interesting about Suzanis from the Tessera website:

Suzani is the Persian or Farsi word for needle and refers to textile panels embroidered with silk thread. The suzani was an integral part of a woman's artistic expression in Central Asia for hundreds of years. Traditionally, as soon as a girl was born her mother would start embroidering the suzani for her. As the daughter grew older, she would join in the process. The suzani would eventually become a part of her dowry and be used to decorate her home.

Knowing the history of behind the artistry makes me appreciate it even more. The Suzani's pictured here from the webiste are vintage pieces from Uzbekistan; however, they also carry reproduction pieces.

In addition to the Suzanis from Uzbekistan, they carry antique items from Central Asia, India, Peru, Tibet and Turkey.


I could dive into this sofa full of pillows from Turkey made from vintage kilm rugs and linger for hours. Couldn't you?

This set of intricately carved antique doors from Peru could be a really intriguing and unexpected element in a modern space.

Visit Tessera's website for more photographs of the fabulous items they sell. While you're there take a minute to read about the company's commitment to volunteering and donating with in the regions they source their products. A company that recognizes its social responsibility will always grab and hold my attention.

Tessera's showroom is located in Houston, TX and only select items are available for sale on their website. This is unfortunate for me in New Jersey however Tessera will be at the New York International Gift August 15 - 19 which would be a great opportunity to see all of this great stuff in person.

Related Post:

I'm Beginning to Notice a Pattern Developing

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Thom Filicia in Loft Life Magazine

I just received my first issue of Loft Life Magazine and there is a Q&A with Thom Filicia and some photographs of his gorgeous home. I connected to something Thom said hen asked what similarities he could find between designing commercial and residential spaces.  "At the end of the day you're designing for people.  Whether you're doing the interior of a car or a residence it can be beautiful but if it isn't comfortable, or inviting, or human on any level, then it really loses.  If people aren't comfortable then that's not good design."  That's really all good design is about isn't it?  Making a person feel happy and comfortable in their space.  

I also had to point out my favorite shot of Thom's home.  He uses his Emmy award from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy as a toilet paper holder.  Gotta love someone for not taking themselves to seriously.  We also can't ignore the safety glass covering one entire wall of the bathroom.  That is a genius idea, the texture is really interesting.  You can check out the entire interview with Thom and more photographs of his home on Loft Life's website. 

Photo Credits: Tom Ackerman 

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I'm Sure You Heard This Already, But...

...just in case you haven't, Domino Magazine is closing up shop.  I'm incredibly disappointed by the news.  While I will admit I may not have been as in love with the magazine now as I was when it was first issued that hasn't stopped me from renewing my subscription year after year.

    

I've gathered much inspiration from the pages of this magazine and while I still have Metropolitan Home and Elle Decor to thrill me with images of delightful interiors I find those magazines much more difficult to translate to a normal person's budget.  Domino was very approachable and offered great ideas that almost anyone could adapt to their home.  

The most important reason why I wanted to pass this information on to you is that I recently went on about the fabulousness of My Deco File at dominomag.com.  From the press releases I could get my hands on, it sounds like we can say goodbye to the website (unlike Blueprint who kept their blog running after the magazine closed) as well as the magazine so my guess is My Deco File will be no more.  I plan on spending tonight making sure that I download all of the photos I have saved there.  What a bummer since I thought I had finally discovered an organized way to save all of the photos that I found online. 

What I'll probably miss the most from dominomag.com is Nick Olsen's Deal Hunter Blog.  That dude makes writing about cheap furniture a million times funnier than you ever thought it could be.   

I wonder what happens to my subscription now? 

My Deco File from Domino Magazine

UPDATE: My Deco File is no longer available as Domino Magazine has folded and taken their lovely website with it. If you're looking for way to store and organize inspiration photos, I'm loving tumblr right now.

If you are anything like me and spend a lot of time surfing the web and reading tons of blogs you probably come across many inspirational photos of interiors. They could be pictures that spark an idea for a home renovation project, a perfectly styled vignette, or a great way to arrange artwork. My biggest problem is figuring out a way keep all of these pictures organized. I would often email myself photos from the office and sometimes I would remember to save them on my personal computer once I got home from work. Other times they would get lost in my inbox and forgotten about forever. Other photos I would printed out and taped directly to the wall of the room they were meant to inspire. Needless to say I had to come up with a better system.

Domino Magazine must have been reading my mind because they came up with a great application to do exactly what I need. Dominomag.com now offers an applicaton called My Deco File, a free web-based tool that allows you to create an image library so you can keep all of your decorating ideas in one place. Your pictures can then be organized into albums called Deco Books that allow you arrange them by decorating project, by room, or however you please.

Right now, I've created about 13 different Deco Books. Some are general, like living room ideas or kitchen ideas, and other were created for specific desing projects. My Deco File also gives you the ability to email your deco books or embed them directly into a website or blog. Like this:

This is a Deco Book I created to organize ideas for my own living room:

[image removed, once Domino Magazine closed up shop the My Deco File site was taken down]

And these are a bunch of photos of beautiful kitchens I've come across that I'm holding on to for the future

[image removed, once Domino Magazine closed up shop the My Deco File site was taken down]

There are loads of options for adding photos to your image library and deco books. All of the pictures contained in the slideshows on dominomag.com now have a small folder icon that you click and the picture is added directly to your library. You can upload pictures directly from your computer, however, the best part is how easy it is to snag the photos from a website and save them to your library.

Domino has created a bookmarking tool called My Deco File Image Grab Bookmark. You add the bookmark to you favorites (instructions are provided on the site of course) and when you stumble on a particular photo that you would like to save you click on the bookmark and "grab" the photo. This will take you directly to your deco file where you have the option to save the photo to one of your deco books and add any notes or keywords you might want. Once the photo is saved you click "I'm Done" and you will be taken right back to the website where you found the photo. I love that it also captures and saves the name of the website along with the photo so you can refer back to the site in the future if you'd like. It's so simple that you are going to wonder how you got through life without it.

The one down side to this system may be that if the website where you found the photo ever removes it from their site, it will also be removed from your deco file. I'm considering eventually coming up with a system for filing all of my photos on my hard drive (or perhaps an external hard drive) but until then this is such an easy way to have everything organized and stored in one place. All of the photos are available anywhere you have access to the internet. A major bonus if you'd like to gather a bunch of images and perhaps show them to your decorator to convey your point of view.

Domino has been busy adding new features like batch upload and the ability to upload photos directly from your cell phone. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

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Shameless Plug for a Family Member

Check out my brother in this video on Pointclickhome.com brought to you by LG electronics:

Some of you might be thinking "I recognize that mug", and you'd be right it's Mikey V. from the last season of HGTV's Design Star. You can check out pointclickhome.com/entertainmentliving to see a video of the finished product as well as other tips on how to integrate electronics into your interior. Mikey will be filming more of these short instructional videos in other celebrities homes so check the site often. You can also check out Mikey's blog for updates on his whereabouts and behind the scenes info from these commercial shoots. One last thing to check out, mikeyv.com where you can see his portfolio just in case you're looking for a designer.